Review: "One Battle After Another"

Funny, poignant, ambitious, and timely, Paul Thomas Anderson's latest opus is one of the year's best.

One thing is clear about Paul Thomas Anderson. Besides his gift for working with actors and eye for great cinematography, it’s evident that he’s a master at movies about dysfunctional families. His latest feature, One Battle After Another, is no different. As the auteur continues presenting the poignant recurring theme seen in his filmography, he creates a film that is his most accessible yet his biggest and most ambitious yet.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Bob Ferguson, an ex-revolutionary on the run in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.”

Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) has been a committed member of the revolutionary group known as the French 75. However, after falling in love with fellow member Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) and having a daughter together, Bob chose to settle down and leave his life of activism behind. In contrast to Bob, Perfidia looked to continue that life and left on her own terms. However, 15 years later, Bob’s past begins to catch up with him once Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), an old foe of the French 75, hunts down both Bob and his now-teenage daughter named Willa (Chase Infiniti). As the father-daughter duo find themselves on a race against time, they enlist the help of new and old allies while reckoning with Bob’s past along with the future may hold.

Thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson’s genius screenplay, One Battle After Another is much about the life that parents try to build for their children as it is about our current political climate. Both Bob and Perfidia have fought hard and aggressively so that people like Willa can grow up in a better, brighter world. Yet, because of some of the decisions they had made during their time with the French 75, with Willa, they have a chance for her to do better with this world than they have.

Furthermore, as a way of heightening the cinematic experience, sequences like Bob humorously trying to find a phone charger while he’s on the run become as much of an anxiety attack as the film’s climactic car chase which, along with the entire film, should be absorbed on the biggest screen possible. Even if you’re not near a theater screening the film in VistaVision or 70MM, if you’re near a Cinemark and they’re showing it in XD, definitely watch this film in that format. Getting to feel the sound effects and the rhythmic score by Jonny Greenwood from your own seat is an experience to behold.

Along with the immense technical craftsmanship, there’s the performances which are so stellar across-the-board that there’s already a case for the film to win the inaugural Oscar for Best Casting. The always-amazing Leonardo DiCaprio proves his gift for playing men at the end of their rope as the constantly on-edge Bob while Sean Penn does his best work in years as Lockjaw, a bigoted high-ranking commander with vicious, soulless eyes. Then there’s Teyana Taylor who’s a whirlwind of sensuality, fury, and command as Perfidia and Regina Hall bringing reserve and gradual vulnerability to her role as the resilient Deandra, a fellow member of the French 75 who left on her own when the group disbanded before coming back to help Willa in her time of need. Plus, in her brief role, Shayna McHayle is magnetic as Junglepussy, a live-wire French 75 member, and proves she needs to be in more movies.

Lastly, there’s the film’s greatest revelation: Chase Infiniti as Willa. Chase Infiniti is so effortless as daughter caught in the crossfire who morphs into a resourceful warrior that you forget that this is her film debut. The fact that she goes toe-to-toe with a slew of seasoned acting veterans like it’s second nature proves she’s more than ready for stardom.

Between the flawless acting ensemble, its handling of messy family dynamics, and also, the grand technical scope, One Battle After Another feels like an amalgamation of Paul Thomas Anderson’s best skills that allows the filmmaker who normally works at a smaller storytelling scale to push himself into making bigger artistic swings. Funny, poignant, and timely, One Battle After Another is simply one of the year’s best movies.

Grade: A

One Battle After Another opens in theaters this weekend.